Step 1: Turn off the Water Supply If you have an electric water heater, turn off the power at the breaker-box. If yours is a gas heater, turn the thermostat to the “pilot” setting. Connect a hose to the drain valve located close to the thermostat, but don’t open the valve yet. Turn off the…

A broken drain plug could be the culprit when your bathroom sink fails to hold water or seems to take forever to drain. A worn gasket beneath the plug or a broken tail piece can cause the pop-up drain plug to stop working. A build-up of hair and soap scum around the tail piece can…

Why Is There Rust on My Galvanized Water Pipes? Galvanized pipes rust from the inside out, which means that by the time you notice rust, the inside of the pipe may be almost completely blocked. This is why faucets supplied by galvanized water lines frequently suffer from a loss of pressure. The most common area…

Steps STEP 1 Tighten the nut Remove the faucet handle by unscrewing the screw that attaches it, which is often covered by a decorative cap you’ll need to carefully pry off. Using your wrench, try tightening the packing nut, which is the nut at the base of the handle’s stem. Some leaks are simply caused…

Remove the pop-up plunger. (Some styles may require that you withdraw the horizontal pop-up bar in order to lift out the plunger.) Check the flat blades on the plunger. If there is a large accumulation of hair and debris on the blades, clean them off. Before you replace the plunger, shine a light down the…

Splash leaks are simply water escaping past a shower curtain or a shower door. Plumbers tell us it’s the most common type of bathroom leak. Although it may sound minor, this leak causes major damage when water seeps into the subfloor where flooring meets the tub or shower. Before long the vinyl flooring or tiles begin to loosen. Even worse, the plywood subfloor delaminates and rots, requiring a huge, expensive tearout and replacement project.

Signs of trouble:

Curling vinyl flooring or loose tiles next to the tub.

Peeling paint or flaking, chalky-looking wood finish near the shower.

Water stains on the ceiling or joists below.

Mold spots on the wall or floor near the tub or shower.

If you use a curtain, look for standing water on the floor after you shower.

How to find the source:

If you have a shower door, splash water all around the door and frame. Leaks around the frame may take five minutes or longer to show up.

If the door has rubber gaskets or a rubber door sweep, check them for gaps.

Also check for any gaps in the caulk where the shower or tub meets the flooring.

How to fix it:

Be sure to overlap sliding doors correctly when you close them. The inner door should be closest to the faucet.

If you have a shower curtain rather than a door, make sure you close it completely when you shower, or add a splash guard.

Seal a leaking frame by running a small bead of caulk around the inside of the frame. Force the caulk into any gaps between the frame and the shower surround. Quickly wipe away all the excess caulk. When the caulk dries, test for leaks again.

Replace any worn gaskets or door sweeps. Bring the old one to a home center or plumbing supply store and look for a matching replacement.

If the old caulk along the floor shows gaps, scrape it out and run a new bead.

Homeowner story:
“I noticed the floor tile along the tub was coming loose. I pushed on it and it crunched down into the underlayment, which was totally rotten. We ended up replacing all of the tile and part of the subfloor.

Tub and shower: Drain leaks

Plug the drain with a test plug and add water. After an hour, check to see if the water level has dropped.

Drain leaks allow water to sneak around the outside of the drain where it’s connected to the tub or shower. This is especially common with plastic or fiberglass tubs and shower pans, since these materials flex slightly when you stand on them, often breaking the seal around the drain. These leaks can stain or destroy the ceiling below or rot floor joists. In the case of a tub set on a concrete slab, the leak will ruin flooring in the bathroom or adjoining rooms.

Signs of trouble:

Water stains on the ceiling or joists below.

Loose flooring near the tub or damp floors in adjoining rooms (if the tub is on a concrete slab).

How to find the source:

If you can see the underside of the drain through an access panel or open ceiling, partially fill the tub and then release the water. In a shower, plug the drain with a rag and then release the water. Check the drains and traps for leaks from below through the access panel.

If you don’t have access to the underside of the drain, plug the drain and add enough water to form a small puddle around the drain (photo). Mark the edge of the puddle by setting a bottle of shampoo next to it. Then wait an hour. If the puddle shrinks, the drain is leaking. Don’t rely on your tub stopper for this test; it may leak. Remove the stopper and insert a 1-1/2-in. test plug (find them at home centers). Remove the grate and use a 2-in. plug for a shower.

How to fix it:

To repair a tub drain, unscrew the drain flange from above. Then clean the flange and apply silicone caulk. Also remove the rubber gasket that’s under the tub’s drain hole and take it to a home center to find a matching gasket. Slip the new gasket into place and screw in the drain flange.

If you have access to a shower drain from below, tighten the ring nut that locks the drain to the shower pan. If that doesn’t work, replace the drain assembly. If you don’t have access beneath the drain, cut a hole in the ceiling below or replace the drain assembly with a WingTite drain.

Tub and shower: Tile leaks

Tile leaks occur when water seeps through deteriorating grout or caulk and gets into the wall behind the tile (Figure A). Depending on the materials used to set the tile, this can lead to tile falling off the wall, severe rotting of the wall framing, and damage to the subfloor, joists or ceiling below.

Signs of trouble:

Loose tiles.

Persistent mold.

If the shower is against an exterior wall, you may find an area of peeling paint outside.

Stains on the ceiling under the shower.

How to find the source:

Examine the grout and caulk joints for gaps. You almost always find mold here.

If you have loose tile behind the tub spout or faucet, open the access panel behind the faucet and look for dampness or stains.

How to fix it:

Remove the old grout, caulk and loose tiles.

If the surface behind the tile is still solid, you can reattach tiles, regrout and recaulk.

If more than a few tiles are loose or if the wall is spongy, you’ll have to install new backer board and tile, or a fiberglass surround.

Take measurements from stacked walls to find the source of a ceiling stain. In most cases, the stain occurs close to the source.

These leaks occur where the toilet meets the waste pipe below. They allow water to seep out at every flush, which will wreck flooring, rot the subfloor and joists, and damage the ceiling below (Photo 1).

Signs of trouble:

Water seeping out around the base of the toilet.

Loose or damaged flooring.

Stains on the ceiling below.

A toilet that rocks slightly when you push against it. This movement will eventually break the wax seal between the toilet and the closet flange.

How to find the source:
If you have ceiling stains, measure from stacked walls (right photo) before you go through the hassle of removing the toilet. If the stain is near the toilet, a leaking flange is the most likely source. Remove the toilet (Photo 2) and look for these leak sources:

The flange is level with or below the surrounding floor surface.

Cracks in the flange.

Bolts or the slots they fit into are broken.

The flange is loose, not screwed solidly to the subfloor.

How to fix it:

If you don’t find any of the problems listed above, reinstall the toilet with a new wax ring.

If the flange is too low, install a plastic flange riser over the existing flange.

If the flange or bolt slots are broken, install a metal repair flange.

If the toilet rocks because the floor is uneven, slip toilet shims under the toilet when you reinstall it.

Homeowner story:
“I had noticed the toilet rocking slightly for a few years, but I kept putting off the repair. Then one day the ceiling under the toilet fell in. It turned out that the wax ring had been leaking for years. The subfloor around the toilet was rotted, and the more it rotted, the more the toilet rocked and the more water leaked out with every flush.”